Hokie ClubThe Virginia Tech men's golf posted an opening round 299 on Friday and is tied with Ohio for ninth place at the Stitch Intercollegiate. The three-day event is being played this weekend at the par 72, 7,003-yard MacGregor Downs Country Club in Cary, North Carolina.
Mark Lawrence Jr., a junior from Richmond, Virginia, leads the Hokies with a 1-under 71. He is tied for ninth place and trails the trio of William Walker III of UAB, Logan Sowell of College of Charleston and Adrien Penaries of Duke by three strokes. Lawrence opened and closed his round with two of his five birdies on the day.
Joey Jordan, a junior from Richmond, Virginia, is tied for 37th at 74 and Ian Hildebrand, a senior from Purcellville, Virginia, is tied for 49th at 76. Slade Pickering, a freshman from North West, South Africa, is tied for 59th at 78 and Connor Burgess, a freshman from Lynchburg, Virginia, is tied for 65th at 80. Hildebrand opened his round with an eagle 3 on the par 5, 528-yard 10th at MacGregor Downs.
ACC foes Wake Forest and NC State are tied for the lead at 6-under 282, one stroke ahead of UAB and two strokes ahead of Duke. East Carolina is fifth at 286, College of Charleston is sixth at 292 and Campbell and Maryland are tied for seventh at 293, six strokes ahead of the Hokies and Bobcats. Richmond is 11th at 304 and Appalachian State is 12th at 305.
The second round will be played Saturday morning and the final round will be played on Sunday morning. Live scoring is available on Hokiesports.com, via a link from Golfstat.com.